Lessthanzero

I am retracting my initial lukewarm statement - though it does still bother my nose sometimes.

Elie Saab No. 6 - Vetiver

Clever
Shimmering
Unisex

Wear:
Linear - very little change from top to dry-down
Tart/acidic citrus
Fizzy purple flowers
A very bright, almost feminine vetiver
Accented by clove (brilliant!) for depth

This is like white noise: static vibrating at all frequencies of audible sound. The hiss of a radiator, the crackle of a vinyl record. The fragrance sparkles in the air, not like a mist, but like an electric charge. It is a high-pitched frequency buzzing indeterminately overhead.

Even better sprayed on clothes.

This fragrance was released in 2006, and I remember vividly how enchanted I was with the smell of this fragrance which, as a small town boy, I only encountered via samples in glossy magazines. The beautiful ads featuring Eddie Klint certainly didn't hurt either.

I recently bought a 10ML sample of Prada Amber based solely on these memories from my adolescence. It is a fine, even a lovely scent. Very modern for its time, and does not smell dated in 2022. I don't know why, but I was not expecting it to be SO amber-y on the dry-down. But the top is all soap and clean neroli powder.

I want to point out that 2006 was an absolute blockbuster year for men's designer fragrances. That year (I was 16 years old), saw the release of:

Prada's "Prada Amber Pour Homme"
Yves Saint Laurent's "L'Homme"
Hermes' "Terre D' Hermes"

I'd argue that these three fragrances, all still in production, were all genre-defying scents that changed (for the better) the trajectory of men's fragrances.

(I'd also like to give honorable mention to Lanvin's 2005 "Arpege Pour Homme" - a close cousin of Prada Amber, but with an iris note. Arpege Pour Homme is sadly discontinued, and the legendary Alber Elbaz, the erstwhile creative director during Lanvin's early oughts Golden Age, tragically passed away from COVID in 2021.)

I own this fragrance, and wear it often, yet I still find it difficult to describe. Here goes:

BOIS D’ARGENT

Sophisticated
Shape-shifter

Opening:
Champagne, juniper, cypress burst fading to buttery iris and medicinal/sour elemi.

Drydown:
Warm and sweet (honey) OR
Aloof and resinous (myrrh) OR
Vanilla OR
Patchouli OR
Shiny leather OR
Powdery musk OR
…A combination thereof

Bois D’Argent is a crowd pleaser, but still manages to smell unique and new (at least in the USA, where it is relatively unknown.)

Fall, winter, spring appropriate but probably not summer.

Genre-defying
Clever, Playful
Underrated

Opening:
Green, dewy, delicate white floral

Wear:
Aquatic, marine, salty
Sporty, irreverent
Synthetic
Fresh cut grass, mint, holly, ivy, gin
10-12 hours longevity

Absolutely no warmth, no musk, no spice, no citrus, no fruit, no vanilla, no vetiver, no resins, no woods

Totally unique, almost futuristic

Full bottle worthy.

I wanted to love this, and I got an excellent deal on a 100ML bottle.

The opening is beautiful. An ozonic, cool, iris. It forms an instant cloud of fragrance which is dense and palpable. I really haven't smelled anything like it. It smells like the color grey. It smells futuristic.

After 5 minutes, this fragrance becomes anathema to me. I get an overwhelming scent of gasoline - quite an alarming smell to have on your shirt. I am learning that this is a reaction some people have to violets or violet leaf. It then becomes EXTREMELY cloying. It smells to me variously of moth balls or the chemical smell of dry-cleaning. The fragrance is also very hard to scrub off.

I find that synthetic musks are actually some of my favorite notes, and I love other Narciso Rodriguez scents. This one just rubbed me the wrong way.